


Kim Jonghyun 101

by Anonymous



Category: NU'EST
Genre: (sometimes) not-so-subtle non-platonic 2hyun, Kim Jonghyun-centric, Produce 101 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-05 17:57:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13393206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: How to deal with Kim Jonghyun on daily basis.Or with JR, when he's on that mode.Chapter 1: How to Make Him Sleep (JBaek / 2hyun)Chapter 2: How to Make Him Angry (2Hyun)Chapter 3: How to Calm Him Down (JRon)Chapter 4: How to Keep Him from Falling (JRen)





	1. How to Make Him Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> this was randomly made and written on a whim.
> 
> so yeah,, the idea for the next chapter is not even existed.  
> feel free to drop a prompt of another "How to...."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baekho just wanted to help JR to sleep.  
> Instead he got a new teasing material.

          Jonghyun is not the noisiest of them all. Compared to other 4, Jonghyun is at the quieter side. But considering their level of noisiness, Jonghyun is not exactly quiet either. Sure though, there are times when he becomes particularly noisy, especially when he’s tired. _Oh_ , they all know how Jonghyun is when he's tired. It's weirdly entertaining to watch him trying so hard to stay energetic until he flops on the nearest soft surface. Preferably his bed, but somebody's shoulder should work too.

There are a few stages of tired Jonghyun.

          First he will become more quiet. When you pushed him to talk, he will make mistakes here and there. Lots of tongue slips, unnecessary repeated words, and un-constructive sentences.  
_Precious teasing materials_ , according to Dongho.  
          The next stage is, he’ll start to talk more. But he slurs his words and sometimes his sentence doesn’t even make sense. At this stage, the others will start to question him. _“What did you say?”_ or _“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”_. Jonghyun will smoothly change the subject, he’s _really_ good at that. He will deny it if the others said that he’s tired, and then he’ll start to be more hyperactive to prove his point.  
          The next stage is Dongho’s personal favorite. After being hyperactive, his energy will start to drain. At this stage, Jonghyun starts to become whiny.

Dongho likes it when Jonghyun being whiny.

“It’s cute..” he admitted it one day, “Definitely cuter than your nagging..”  
Minhyun just rolls his eyes, though it would be a lie if he says he doesn’t agree. Because for him, Jonghyun is cute in general. Whiny Jonghyun just a little bit cuter.

Dongho would purposely tease Jonghyun when he’s being whiny. Just so he can see more of it.

“Ahhh!! Why are you doing this to meee~?!”  
Dongho did it again. He would go on with the teasing if Minhyun and Aron don’t stop him.

“Stop teasing him!” Aron said, slapping Dongho’s arm.

“Dongho-ya... you can stop now~” Minhyun add, but by the look in his eyes and the rise of one corner of his lips, probably he doesn’t really want Dongho to stop.

“Fine~” Dongho gives in, but doesn’t stop his snickers.

          When Jonghyun stops being whiny, he will start to grumble and mumble to him self, most of them are incomprehensible. And shortly after that he will be dead tired and fall asleep.

His band mates know these stages like the back of their hand. It’s a repetitive cycle they’ve witnessed over and over for 8 years and more. It never fails to entertain them. When they all tired, it is one of the things that keep them bright. Because teasing Jonghyun is never not funny. So they take what they can get, most of the times...

In certain cases, they hope Jonghyun would just fall asleep immediately. Because they all knew, that’s what he needs the most. So they do what they can to make him passed his stages faster. Sometimes it works, especially when Aron or Minhyun man-handling him. Sometimes, it doesn’t...

This is one of those time...

* * *

 “Urgh!!” his groan earns him a concerned look from his two group mates, as he tossed and turned on his seat.

“Get some sleep Jonghyun-ah, you had a long week~” Minki says.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to dooooo~” Jonghyun replies with a hint of whine. Minki and Dongho throw knowing glances at each other.  
Minki is good at cheering Jonghyun and Dongho...; well Dongho is good at teasing Jonghyun. But those are definitely not what Jonghyun needs right now. This is usually Aron's and Minhyun's job. But Minhyun is obviously not with them and Aron went first to the hospital after that stupid relay thing.

“Come here..” Minki pulls Jonghyun's head to rest on his shoulder. That’s what Aron would do if he’s here. Jonghyun complies and buries his nose into the neglected hoodie of Minki’s pad.

“Close your eyes.. try to sleep..” Minki says softly while patting the head on his shoulder.

 

“Well that works well...” Dongho whispers as he witness Jonghyun stays still on Minki for a quite while. Minki looks up.

“Surprisingly...” he whispers back, not wanting to wake the person in his arm.

They spent the next few minutes in silence. When Dongho looks back, he found Minki comfortably asleep with Jonghyun still on his shoulder, who’s  _surprisingly_ wide awake.

“Why are you awake?” Dongho whispers with a frown.

“I’m tired but not sleepy...” Jonghyun answers softly. Dongho exhale exasperatedly.

“Don't you always fall asleep immediately if Aron- _hyung_ does that?”

“Umm... not exactly..”

“No? What he did then?”

“Ummm... he always makes me talk a lot. But I usually don’t remember what I talked about when I woke up..” Jonghyun says after a while. A simple _oh_ is all that Dongho can say. Guess Aron’s way is not as simple as lending his shoulder as a pillow.

 _Well then,_  Dongho thinks,  _If it's talking that makes him sleep,_ _let’s make him talk~_

 

“What about Minhyun?” Dongho finally asks, still whispering. He remembers Minhyun has his own way to make Jonghyun fell asleep. As long as it works, _and it always works,_ he doesn’t really care about the how. He just realized that he never actually knows what it takes.

“What about _him_?” Jonghyun asks back.

“What does _he_ do to make you sleep?” Jonghyun blinks as he didn’t expect that particular question.

“Nothing.” Jonghyun throws his glances below. Dongho can see Jonghyun’s left cheek sunken as he bites the inside part,  Jonghyun’s subconscious habit when he’s nervous.

“ _Oh?_ ” Dongho raised his eyebrows as he notices the subtle behavior.

“Oh.” Jonghyun follows, keeping on a straight face. Dongho snickers as he unexpectedly just found a new teasing material.

“Do I need to call Minhyun to find out how?” the question earns him a glare which he responds with giggles.

“Fine~” he finally says.  
“Speaking of... “ Dongho proceeds, “What is he doing right now anyway??” he pulls out his phone from his pocket.

“He has a fan-meeting in Macau..” Jonghyun answers immediately. Dongho smiles as he scroll on his screen.

“Of course you would know that~” he says. Jonghyun just rolled his eyes.

“Oh wait! You’re wrong~ Apparently he’s at Malaysia now~” Dongho shows his phone to Jonghyun, showing a blurry fan-taken photo of Minhyun. Jonghyun takes the phone and scroll for more pictures.

“If only he got there a day before.. he probably gonna stays at our hotel too~” Dongho says as he stares at Jonghyun who deeply absorbed into his phone.

Jonghyun just smiles.  
“Bad timing~” he says lightly.

“Bad timing indeed~” Dongho follows with a subtle teasing tone that Jonghyun purposely ignores as he yawns.

“Oh, it’s working?” Dongho asks.

“What is?” Jonghyun asks back with sleepy eyes.

“Are you sleepy now?”

“You were trying to make me sleep?”

“Kinda. Yeah...”

Jonghyun blinks at the answer.  
“I.. uh.. maybe.. a bit.”

“Good!” Dongho says, obviously satisfied, “Should we talk a bit more?”

“About Minhyun?” Jonghyun asks. Dongho grins at the question.

“Sure, if that’s what you want~”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Yeah yeah~”

 

It takes a whole 10 minutes of whisper-talking until Jonghyun finally slurred his words. Dongho looks back to find Jonghyun’s eyes flutter close as his words start to become incomprehensible.

“Sleep...” Dongho whispers as he reaches out to pat Jonghyun’s head. A soft _humm_ is all he got for an answer as Jonghyun drifts to sleep. Finally.

 

 _Guess this is what it takes to be Aron-hyung~  
_ Dongho thinks to him self and glance back to Minki, who is still holding Jonghyun while being asleep for the whole conversation.

_Oh yeah, except that he has to be the pillow too while doing all the talking..._

He sets him self to be more comfortable on his seat, trying to get some sleep too before they arrived home and he probably got to bring Jonghyun up on his back.

 _Better than having him awake again I guess.._ he thinks.

As he closes his eyes, he reminds him self to ask Minhyun later, 'what does it take for Hwang Minhyun to make Kim Jonghyun asleep'.  
Though deep down he feels like he doesn't really want to know the answer.

 


	2. How to Make Him Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curious is an understatement for Minhyun.  
> To say the least, he is frustrated at Jonghyun’s inability to rage.  
> It’s not even for fascination anymore.  
> He just don't understand, how come Jonghyun never actually went mental after every shits that happened in his life.

_“But, does Jonghyun ever get angry at you?” Lee Sugeun asks._

_“He does. Of course he does..” Dongho answers immediately as he glances to the boy that curls up on his seat._

_“He showed that a bit during the program and it got aired right?” he continues, “Well, that’s how he actually is when he got angry.. “_

_“What about you Jonghyun-ah.. is there anything you want to say towards your member?” Lee Sugeun shifts his attention, “Use this chance to let out your frustration!!”_

_Jonghyun giggles on his seat before stares right at Dongho._

_“Of course not. The members, all of them, listen to me very well!” he answers which makes Dongho goes wide-eyed._

_“Yah! If you say it like that, how’s that gonna make me look like?!” he shots which responded with laughters from the whole casts._

 

* * *

They watch the scene on their TV fascinatedly.

“Doesn’t he ever get scarier than that time?” Seongwoo asks when the people on TV changed their subject. The person he directs the question at doesn’t budge, still focusing on the show.

“Yah Hwang Minhyun!” he calls, nudging the taller besides him, “I’m asking you!”

“OH? Ah...” Minhyun turns at him, “Jonghyun-i? Hmmm... “

“Well,” he starts after taking a short thought,   
“There was this time when Dongho and Aron- _hyung_ did a prank-camera on him during an interview. He handled it well on screen, but when I saw him back home he was on verge of tears.” he recalls one particular occurrence in the past,   
“When I asked him what happened, he just said, ‘ _ask them!’_ and turned away.” Minhyun chuckles at the memory,   
“He wasn’t exactly angry, but he was sulking for the rest of the day. I remember Dongho and Aron- _hyung_ were freaking out because Jonghyun blatantly ignored both of them for the entire day. It was kinda funny for me and Minki, but I guess it must be scary for Dongho and Aron- _hyung_..” he finishes his story with a laugh.

“But yeah.. it wasn’t that serious. Our manager too just laugh it off and Jonghyun went back to normal after dinner.. It was more like he's in a really really bad mood.” Minhyun adds.

“Augh.. we always missed the good stuff!” Daniel growls, “We weren’t there either when the Super Hot team did their prank for his birthday!”

“Oh my god! I swear!!” Minhyun laughs, “Dongho and Minki wouldn’t stop apologizing for the whole day when we got back home because of that!”

“Was he angry?” Seongwoo asks.

Minhyun shakes his head.  
“No.. He was kinda laughing while crying actually. Dongho and Minki just felt sorry because they know how much Jonghyun hates being on prank-camera. He just hates those kind of stuff..”

 

Soon after, the show they were watching so intently just minutes ago, was forgotten as they reminisce the one and only time they experienced their mutual friend’s anger together.

“Hmmm... So, so far Jonghyun-hyung never been scarier than _that_ time, huh?” Jaehwan opens the topic.

“Was it really that scary?” Minhyun asks this time.

“It was!” Daniel answers.

“It was really scary hyung! I was frozen the entire time...” Jaehwan adds.

“Really?” Minhyun questions him self.

“Hyunbin certainly scarred for life because of that..” Seongwoo says.

“Aaah...” Minhyun remembers how Hyunbin was right after the incident, “I guess it was kinda scary then...”

“But if I watch that clip again, I don’t think it would be that scary either...” Jaehwan states.

“ _I raised my voice, didn’t I?!”_ Daniel imitates the notorious line, earning soft chuckles from the others.

“To be honest, I think it was kinda cute...” Minhyun says lightly.

Seongwoo snorts at the statement.  
“Of course you’d think it’s cute. Is there even any side of him that you don’t find cute, huh?”

“Shut up!” Minhyun can feel his ear-tips warming up, he hopes nobody would notice the color shifts as he knows it’s happening.

“Look how his ear reddening again~!” Daniel notices. Minhyun just rolls his eyes. It’s not like he can control his ears and their subconscious reaction, and hiding it with his hands would just make it more embarrassing. So he thickens his skin and puts up his best poker face.

The others laugh at his pathetic attempt.

“But really, with my standard, that angry Jonghyun- _hyung_ wouldn’t even equals as Jisung-hyung’s scolding.” Daniel says, “I don’t even know why it was so scary at that time..”

“Well there were enhancing factors..” Jaehwan recalls, “We were just got out from evaluation and we were all kinda irritated, right? I remember my feet were sore but because Jonghyun- _hyung_ suddenly got mad, I didn’t even dare to sit on the floor..”

“Yeah.. and it was unexpected too. I thought he was going to let it passed again that time, but then he actually snapped.” Seongwoo adds, “Maybe to put it in other word, I was more like.. fascinated? But it was definitely nerve-wracking that time..”

Minhyun’s thoughts fly back to the occurrence in talk.  
It would be a lie if he says it didn’t surprise him. It did, but he also sort of saw it coming. With all the tenses built up and how often he found Jonghyun unconsciously biting his tongue to get a hold of him self. He knew it was taking it’s toll.  
So when it actually happened, he just sat on his seat, letting his leader did what he thought the best for his team. After all, he knows Jonghyun wouldn’t let it getting out of hand. If it’s anything, he was rather enjoying the rare opportunity to witness his soft-natured friend went off.

He chuckles at the thought.

“I wonder how it would be like when Jonghyun- _hyung_ really angry. Like.. REALLY really angry..” Daniel says which followed by Minhyun’s laugh.

“You really never saw anything worse, _hyung_?” Jaehwan asks.

“I told you already.” Minhyun answers but suddenly reminded of something that makes him stop.

“What is it?” Seongwoo notices the sudden pause.

“Nothing...” Minhyun says with a smile, “It’s just something he said last time..”

“What was it?” Daniel pushes curiously.

“Well.. it’s not like that I’ve never been curious either, you know..” Minhyun answers, “But he thinks being angry is just a waste of time.. So I guess we won’t see anything worse anytime soon. I mean.. it’s not like I want to purposely make him angry just to see his reaction,”

“Aaaaah~” Seongwoo exhales, “I want to see angry Jonghyun....”  
He gets elbowed lightly on his ribs because of that.

“Don’t even try...” Minhyun warns with giggles.

“I wouldn’t even dare...” Seongwoo rolls his eyes.

 

* * *

Curious is an understatement for Minhyun. To say the least, he is frustrated at Jonghyun’s inability to rage. It’s not even for fascination anymore. He just doesn't understand how come Jonghyun never actually went off with every shits that happened in his life. Even for him, the so-called calm and gentle Hwang Emperor, there are times he just wants to scream and shout on how frustrating their whole situation was. There were times when he actually screamed and shouted at cold air during his late-night biking session with Dongho.

“You shouldn’t keep it inside.” He said after he’s satisfied, “It’s unhealthy.”

But Jonghyun, he never does that. He wouldn’t scream and shout like Minhyun did. Jonghyun would just sit there in his room with headset on and screen lightening up his face showing some animated movie he has watched for god-knows how many times. That is how he releases his stress. The worse he ever gets would be when Jonghyun bawls him self out during their annual drink out session, which always ended up with him passed out on their couch so Dongho or Minhyun had to take him on their back to his room. Don’t mention the bad hangover he’ll have to deal with the next morning.   
But that is far from anger and rage.   
It’s just built up disappointment that flows out along with his tears.

It came to the point where Minhyun actually begged Jonghyun to get mad. But what he got was just that regular soft smile under his sparkling eyes.

“There is nothing to be mad about, Minyeon-ah... One of us got in. And that’s already more than what we were even expecting...” he said softly.

“It’s not supposed to be me...” Minhyun sobbed. Jonghyun grabbed his shoulder to force Minhyun's focus on him.

“There is no such thing as ' _supposed to be'_ , Hwang Minhyun. Nobody deserve it more than anybody is. YOU deserve it. And that’s it. There is no _supposed to be Me,_ or _supposed to be Dongho_ , or _supposed to be Minki_. The place is yours just because you also deserve it. And no one should think any other way!” Jonghyun said firmly, forcing Minhyun to make the eye contact he had been avoiding for days.

“But you...” Minhyun wouldn’t have it easy.

“But _me_.." Jonghyun cut, "... and Dongho and Minki and Aron- _hyung_ , are okay. Remember our goal when we decided to join that show? It was only to get a mere recognition. Letting the world knows that we’re exist. Letting people know our faces and names. Work hard and plant good image in their head.  Try to be on top 20 if we could. We surpassed all of that! We reached all of our goals and even gain a lot more than that.” Jonghyun took a deep breath before he proceeded.

“You being in Wanna One is the extension of our dream. Your success along with the group is our next goal..” he smiled, “I have everything I could ever wished for. I have no reason to be mad or angry... So you can cry all you want but can’t say that you don’t deserve it. You deserve it. Accept that. If you keep denying it, well then maybe I’ll be angry..” Jonghyun put up a fake pout and furrows his eyebrow. Minhyun couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It was a sad attempt from Jonghyun to cheer him up, but it worked. It always works.

“I would love to see that...” Minhyun said softly with a giggle which earned him a light flick on his forehead.

“Yah!! Hwang Minhyun!!” Jonghyun snapped.

“OH! Are you angry?” Minhyun teased him.

“Why do you even want me to be angry anyway?? It’s so silly..” Jonghyun replied with an actual pout.

“It’s only natural that people would be angry in your position.” Minhyun smiled as he reached out to hold Jonghyun’s hands, “I just don’t want you to hold back just because you feel like you have the responsibility to be a leader and you feel like you have to be strong all the time...” he stared down at their intertwined fingers, avoiding eye contact, “I hope you lean on me more...”

Jonghyun took his words literally as he leaned in and rest his head on the taller’s shoulder, “I am..” he whispered, “More than you actually think..”

“But we don’t have much time...” he tightened the hold on his fingers, “and I don’t want to waste it on being angry at something we couldn’t change...”

“So I won’t..” he pulled away to find Minhyun’s glassy eyes on him, “Why bother to be angry when I have so much more reason to be happy,” he smiled and looked down to their joined hands, “Plus, I also have _this_.”

 

And right then Minhyun knew it was stupid of him for expecting something other than Jonghyun being happy.

“Jonghyun-ah...” Minhyun called softly.

“Hmmmm?” Jonghyun looked up and they finally faced each other properly for the first time during the entire conversation.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Minhyun asked, ignoring the warm feeling that crept to his ear, embracing the way the other’s eyes widened at the question.

“You... you never bother to ask before...” Jonghyun stuttered his reply as he tried to hide his face with his sweater paws. Minhyun didn’t let him and pulled his wrist away from his face.

“Is that a yes?” Minhyun practically whispered and leaned in before Jonghyun could answer.

He doesn’t need too.  
They both know what the answer is.


	3. How to Calm Him Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonghyun is nervous  
> Aron is trying to be the nice and cool hyung he claims he is  
> And maybe everybody loves Jonghyun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kinda cheesy

Jonghyun being wide awake at 2 AM is not an unusual thing to see. God knows what his mother ate for him to have that much of sleep resistance in his body. It's either he's having another Japanese cartoon marathon (that he probably has watched more than once already) or playing those flashy games or watching videos of some dude playing flashy games, or.... Aron has encountered Jonghyun in so many different situations, so it could be anything that keeps him awake now. Nevertheless, as a nice and cool  _hyung_ he claims he is, Aron barges in to see what kind of late-night activity Jonghyun's busying him self with.

To his surprise, Jonghyun is actually doing nothing, except staring blankly at his ceiling while lying on his bed.

"Jong?" Aron calls, "You're not sleeping yet?"

Jonghyun shifts his eyes to look at Aron that is still standing on his door frame.

"Hey  _hyung..._ " he greets softly with his raspy voice and then stares back to the ceiling.

Aron steps in to the room and walks closer to the bed.  
"Not gaming?" He asks while sit him self on the edge Jonghyun's bed. Jonghyun shifts to lay on his side, allowing his  _hyung_  to intrude his personal space further.

"Not in the mood," Jonghyun replies with a soft exhale.

Aron furrows his brows, noticing something's definitely not right, "Hey, what's wrong??"  
This time Jonghyun's releasing a longer and harder exhale as a response while shutting his eyes tightly.   
Aron lets the younger collected him self before asking another question. He reaches out to caress Jonghyun's hair softly, brushing the fringe away from his eyes.  
Jonghyun accepts the affection contently, as if Aron's hand on his head will make his heart beats slower when in fact, it's quite the contrary.

It was obvious for Aron, that Jonghyun is nervous about something. And just like the Kim Jonghyun he knows, Jonghyun will give his best to keep it inside so nobody would notice, so nobody would worry.

 _It must be quite a thing he has in mind, to the point he's letting me seeing him this way,_ Aron thinks to him self. 

Even the night before Produce 101 finale, Jonghyun wasn't this nervous. Surprisingly, he was quite collected, as if he has everything in control.  _That,_ or he just couldn't bother to care at that time.  
The last time Aron saw Jonghyun like this was the night before the four of them started the filming of Produce 101. When he was more afraid than nervous. Afraid for the obvious mess he was going to face the next day.

 _"They're totally going to eat us alive..."_ Jonghyun said that night when Aron found him staring at the ceiling just like now.   
_"Well.. at least for once, we actually knows something certain about our future, "_ he said again, stating the irony.  
That time, Aron couldn't do anything but giving out a reassurance smile. It's not like he could do more for he wasn't going to the same battle.

Aron doesn't want to repeat the same action. He wants to do something more than just a smile that came out more bitter than he planned.

"Talk to me, let me in.." so he begins.

Jonghyun opens his eyes and he finds Aron's face inches away from his.  
If it's another day or night, he would throw his face away and pat the older's hand lightly while brushing off the disappointed look he got with a smile.  
But tonight, tonight he doesn't want to do that. He wants all the affections Aron usually vomits towards Ren on daily basis, he wants all the assurance he can get.

"I'm scared  _hyung_ ," Jonghyun finally says, "What if they don't like me..."  
He takes a hold of Aron hand on his cheek, as if the owner will retract it away immediately.  
"What am I gonna do? I don't know what to do...." he continues with softer voice.

"Jonghyun-ah..." Aron exhales, not exactly sure what to say. Again, his little brother is going for another battle by him self.

  
_When did they start having different battles. They used to fight together..._

"All the other casts are senior comedians. Another one that isn't is Lee Hongki- _sunbaenim,_ and he gets along with other  _sunbaenim_ already.." Jonghyun proceeds with his rants.  
"And then there's me. I'm not funny. I'm awkward. I'm... " he takes a deep breath.

"I'm nobody..."

It takes Aron's every will not to wince at the words.  
"Stop it.. don't say that. You're not nobody. Who told you that?!" he unconsciously raise his voice.

_Come on Kwak Aaron. You're better than this._

"Who told you that??" he repeats the question, softer this time, almost pleading if Jonghyun notices, but he was too distracted by Aron's eyes that staring at him intently -- _too intently._

"You know... people," Jonghyun answers, avoiding Aron's eyes. He's just not used to it. Not yet.

Aron sighs, "I told you not to read those kind of comments alone, didn't I?"  
Now Jonghyun looks down, actually affected by Aron's words. Aron did say that before, knowing that Jonghyun tends to dwell with it.  
"I told you that I will read those for you. I told you that I will filter those for you. I told you that I will tell you all the good things and help you with the bad ones if there even any.."

"I.." Jonghyun pouts, "I'm sorry.. I was just.. curious. I can't help it."

For the thousand times tonight, Aron sighs.  
_Of course the kid would be curious._

"Look at me.." Aron coups Jonghyun's face with both of his hands. Forcing him to look back at him.

"They are wrong. Let me tell you who you are." he takes a pause to collect his mind.  
"You're Kim Jonghyun," he starts with the obvious, "You're a leader of an almost disbanded group called NU'EST. You're one of the four members that went out there to save our future,"

"Five." Jonghyun cuts.

"What was that?" Aron asks, not catching up.

"One of the five. Five members, not four. We all saved us, together." Jonghyun continues, and Aron can't help but smile.

"Right. You're one of the FIVE members that went out there to save our asses," Aron proceeds with a smirk.  
"You're that one trainee that has leader sticker stuck on his shirt all throughout the season. You're that guy that people calls the Nation's Leaders. You're.." at this point Aron notices the teasing smile that grows on the younger's lips.

"Do you want me to continue or should I stop embarrassing my self?" he asks.

"Go on, it feels nice..." Jonghyun giggles.   
Please, who can say no to that?

"I'm actually running out of idea, but suree~" Aron rolls his eyes and Jonghyun giggles get louder.  
"You're that awkward kid that works so hard to looks charismatic because our CEO told you to. And you said you're not funny? Wrong! We all are funny! But if you compare it with me, yeah.. you kind of not funny. I'm hilarious." that one earns him a smack on his chest.

" _Hyung!!_ " Jonghyun protests, but the smile grows wider.  
Aron not so secretly proud to be the reason why as he pastes the smile on his face.

"But you know what, most importantly, you're my one and only small precious little brother and..."

"One and only? What about the others?" Jonghyun cuts

"They're not so small, you know. You're the only one who's small."

" _Hyung!!_ " 

"Shuussshh.. let me finish! You're my one and only SMALL precious little brother and.. And, I love you so much. You know why.."

"Why?"

"Because you are born to be loved, Kim Jonghyun. That is just who you are. And I'm not one to give you advice about entertainment industry, but you don't have to be funny to make them fall for you. All you have to do is be your self, and I think.. I know. I know they gonna love you. Because I did. I do."

Jonghyun thinks he will cry right that second if he doesn't tease his  _hyung_ for being so cheesy, but he couldn't think any clever comebacks or witty remarks, so he just takes the older's words as it is and close his eyes as if it will dam up the welling tears. It doesn't.

"I love you Jonghyun-ah..." Aron whispers at the sight of Jonghyun's wet lashes as he closed his eyes.

"I love you too,  _hyung.."_ Jonghyun whispers back.

"You'll do great. I know you will."

* * *

 

It's not Kwak Aron if he doesn't let Jonghyun's nerves got into him.

And that is alright, he thinks. If his silly antics everytimes he got nervous can make Jonghyun cracks up even just a little, then he'll take all the teases that comes his way.   
As long as Taehyuk- _hyung_ will take all the messages that comes his way.

 

**_Hyung_ how is he  
**

**We just left the dorm, Aron... -,-**

**_Hyung_ has the filming start? Is he okay??  
**

**Yes yes.. it just started. He looks okay.  
He's sweating alot though.**

**Oh god _hyung_  did you bring spare clothes.**

**Of course I did Aron. Hello~ it's me you're talking to.**

**Right Right. Sorry _hyung_**

 

**_Hyung_ how's he doing now?  
**

_**Hyung...** _

**OH GOD _HYUNG_ WHY ARE YOU NOT RESPONDING MEEEE???**

_**HYUNG!!** _ **TAEHYUK- _HYUUUUNG!!!_** ****

**_HYUNG_  IS JONGHYUN OKAY??!!**

**For god sake Kwak Aron! Yes he's okay!  
He's super awkward and that's actually super funny!   
Now stop spamming me!!  You're making me nervous!!**

**Oh.. okay. Alright.. good. that's good. Sorry _hyung._.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lit bit of JRon won't hurt.


	4. How to Keep Him from Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it has nothing to do with his feet.

Jonghyun jolted awake from his sleep.

He seems to do that a lot lately, he realised. It's the third of the week, and it's not even weekend yet.

He wanted to groan, but decided not to when he remembers he got a room mate now.  
A new one. After his old room mate claiming freedom a year and a half ago and doesn't seem to be ready to let go of it yet.  
So they settled with new arrangement, and now his room mate is his old-old room mate from, like... 5 years ago? Or at least he thinks so. He doesn't exactly remember.

He quietly slip off from his bed and blindly looking for his slippers on the floor. He couldn't find it.  
After checking out his room mate for one last time, making sure he didn't wake up the light sleeper, Jonghyun tiptoeing his way out of the room to the kitchen. He thinks a glass of luke warm water might help, he doubts he can go back to sleep though.

When was the last time he's awake this time of the night. Lately he's been trying to get all the sleep he can get, with his schedules getting fuller than ever, it's been a while since he pulls an all nighter to binge watch some anime or random youtube videos or playing his old games. It's good, he thinks. He's been busy.

Busy is good.

He sits on the couch with a glass of water in hand and pull up his feet before taking a sip. He suddenly craves for something sugary, but the floor is too cold for him to stand on it any longer without his slippers. That's just an excuse. He's just too lazy to reach out to the top of the kitchen drawer where his taller friends keeps all their instant beverages. He's going to complain about it in the morning, he makes a mental note.

"Huh? Why are you still awake?" a voice startled him. He looks back to find Minki looking at him strangely from his door frame.  
"Oh, did I wake you up?" he asks back.  
"Hnnnng..." Minki mumbles about something, "..no. Bathroom.." Jonghyun catches some words. He thinks he doesn't need further explanation.

"So why are you awake.." Minki asks again and walks towards the couch, checking out whatever Jonghyun is doing. Maybe he's eating something nice.

"No reason. Just got awake and couldn't fall back to sleep.." Jonghyun answers after taking another sip of his water.  
"You drink your water as if it's something delicious and I wanted to ask what you're drinking, but it's just water?" Minki makes funny face. Jonghyun chuckles.  
"I wanted to make hot choco but..." he glances up towards the kitchen drawer.  
"..ah.." Minki understands immediately.  
"It takes extra effort to get a sachet..." Jonghyun mumbles.

"Give me your glass.." Minki finally said after a while,

"Huh?" 

"I'll make it for you.." 

"hmm..." Jonghyun hesitates for a bit and Minki could see that.  
"Don't worry," he proceeds to take Jonghyun's glass away, "I don't feel creative right now so I'll make it just like how it is." he rolls he's eyes.

"But, what about bathroom..?" Jonghyun still find it hard to believe Minki's going to make a hot choco just like how a hot choco is.

"Huh?" Minki raises one of his eyebrows.  
"Huh?" Jonghyun tilts his head. Okay, maybe he didn't catch it right.

 _Whatever_ , he finally resides, silently praying he'll get a normal hot choco.

 

"So what made you awake?" Minki asks after Jonghyun took a sip of his hot choco (surprisingly taste just like how a hot choco is).

"Hmm..." Jonghyun takes his time to answer.

"Nightmare?" Minki pries.

"Nope. Not exactly." Jonghyun answers with a soft laugh, "I don't really remember how that goes anymore," he smiles. It's been a while since he has one of those.  
Minki follows with the same smile, "Yeah.. me too.."

"I just jolted awake sometimes.. like.." Jonghyun imitates how he usually flinch on his bed and jumps awake. Minki laughs at the silly recreation, but he gets what Jonghyun's trying to say.

"I usually dream about falling, and then I feel like I actually fell, and then I found my self jumps on my bed." Jonghyun continues.

"So not nightmare.. You just had a dream about falling.." Minki repeats as if confirming Jonghyun's story.

"Yeah.." Jonghyun nods, "I don't think it's scary dreams like how I used to get. I don't always remember exactly what my dreams are about, I just remember the falling part.."

"I guess the you in your dream is not far different from you in real life, huh? Still falling over thin air.."

"Shut up."  
"Sometimes I can go back to sleep, sometimes I can't. This is one of the time when I can't." Jonghyun sips his hot choco, "That's why you find me here.. Hey this choco tastes normal."

"Yeah you already said that, can you at least say it's _delicious_ instead of just  _normal_??" Minki pouts.  
"I mean.. it's okay." Jonghyun says. Now Minki scowls, but Jonghyun just laugh it off. He's not going to give it easily to his friend.

"You know.." Minki starts again.

"Hmmm??"

"You can still come to my bed even though it's not nightmare.." 

"..hm?"

"And even though I'm not your room mate anymore.."

"..oh.. right.."

"Why didn't you come to me anymore?"

"Well," Jonghyun stalls, "I mean neither do you.. But I mean.. You don't call me late at night to come to your room anymore, so I guess you just don't have nightmares anymore."

"I don't." Minki says, "I don't have nightmares anymore. Not lately.."  
"But it doesn't mean that you can't come to me anymore. I don't give you a space on my bed just as a pay back for you helping to make my nightmares go away. I give it because you need it, and if you still need it, the space will always be available for you.."

"...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." it was a long humm coming from Jonghyun.  
Minki knows, Jonghyun hates these kind of talks. But it needs to be said or else his oblivious friend will deal with it alone. Or worse, he won't deal with it and stays awake doing whatever he can to keeps him awake.  
Minki sighs. He did what has to be done.

"I'm going back to bed okay.." Minki gets up from his seat.

"hmm.." Jonghyun responds, "thank you for the hot choco..."

"yeah.." Minki says weakly, he was going to say more among the line of  _'think about what I said'_ or something similar, but he sets with a soft pat on Jonghyun's hair instead.

As he reached his door frame, he thinks of something.  
"Hey Jong.." he calls out.

"Yeah?" Jonghyun look back at him.

"In case you didn't notice, but I never lock my room at night, you know.."

Jonghyun smiles, "I know."

"Good night.." Minki mirrors the smile and goes inside his room, leaving Jonghyun and his not-so-hot-anymore choco.

* * *

His long forgotten choco is now as cold as the floor.   
He thinks maybe he should make another one if he wants to stay awake.  
But then maybe he doesn't really want to stay awake.

It's a lie if he said what Minki said doesn't bother him.  
Though he hates when Minki pointed out his problem out loud, he also admits that he needs someone to do that for him to realise certain things.

When did he stops having nightmares?  
When did he starts falling in his dreams?

When did falling starts becoming his nightmares?

He guess deep down he knows when, but he just too scared to admit it.  
Maybe he needs Minki to say it out loud for him too.

You're scared to fall when you're at higher place.  
It's quite obvious isn't it?

So maybe he doesn't want to call these falling dreams a nightmares.  
So maybe he doesn't need someone to comfort him from those.  
But if somebody can actually keep him from falling, maybe it's worth to try.

And suddenly Minki's door looks so inviting.

He puts down his cold choco on the table and walk over to Minki's room.

If tomorrow he had to deal with an annoyed Minhyun because he lost his room mate in the morning or because he has to wash a glass of unfinished choco first thing in the morning, so be it.  
Jonghyun will think about it later when it actually comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a 2hyun-ish continuation of this chapter but I don't want to mess with the jren in this so maybe i'll post it as another work... someday.


End file.
